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Oh, Canada

Happy Canada Day, and welcome to the somewhat traditional Canada Day Post! It’s almost traditional for me to write a post about the amazing country I live in on this day, and I say almost, because since I began blogging, I’ve only missed two years. There are Canada Day posts from 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013 for your reading pleasure, if you are really, really that interested in Canada. Today is also traditionally the day that I get the weirdest comments. Some of you just take leave of your senses when someone talks about their country, so it’s also become traditional for me to post a little reminder up here, at the top, where I point out a few things.

1. Yes! I’m Canadian! I live in Canada and everything. You didn’t know that? I’m sorry. I try to mention it from time to time so that it doesn’t sneak up on you on this day, but if you’re disappointed or inexplicably angry about my nationality, I think you should just breath through your nose for a minute. It’s not personal.

3. While we’re mentioning healthcare, I think it is very bad manners for someone who does not live here, and does not use our healthcare to explain to us how it is very bad. I know you saw on the news or read an article or met a Canadian once, or just know in your heart that it is terrible, but the fact is that 86% of us think it is great, 91% of us think it is preferable to private systems, and less than one percent of us ever seek care in the US – and that includes having to use it in emergencies while travelling. Even our doctors like it. Only .5% of them leave to practice medicine in the US and that number has been declining for years. It is comparatively inexpensive, and we live a long time, and have very good infant mortality rates. We are healthy and happy, for the very most part, and so please don’t drop by to tell us that you know more about it than we do.

4. The reason I am not “fair” and don’t do a July 4th post is…. well heck. See #1 above. If you’re American, you should totally write one about the charms of your country on that day.

None. Canadians don’t change light bulbs. We accept them the way they are. *

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How do you get 50 drunk Canadians out of a swimming pool?

You say “Please get out of the swimming pool.” **

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What is Stephen Harper’s favourite food?

Prorogies.***

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How do you stop bacon from curling in the frying pan?

Take away their brooms. ****

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It’s game 7 of the Stanley cup final, and and a man visiting Canada on holiday makes his way to his seat right at centre ice. He sits down, noticing that the seat next to him is empty. He leans over and asks his neighbour if someone will be sitting there. “No,” says the neighbour. “The seat is empty.” “This is incredible”, said the man. “Who in their right mind would have a seat like this for final game of the Stanley Cup playoffs and not use it?” The neighbour says “Well, actually, the seat belongs to me. I was supposed to come with my wife, but she passed away. This is the first Stanley Cup we haven’t been to together since we got married in 1967.” “Oh … I’m sorry to hear that. That’s terrible. But couldn’t you find someone else, a friend or relative, or even a neighbour to take the seat?” The man shakes his head sadly. “No, they’re all at the funeral.”*****

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What do you call a Canadian firefighter?

A hoser.******

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* This is actually pretty true. We were the first country in the world to express multiculturalism as a an official policy. (1971.) We have more immigrants from more places per capita than any other country, We legalized same sex marriage ten years ago, and we are the most tolerant people in the world, apparently.

** it’s true. As a nation, we are very polite. If it makes you feel better though statistically speaking, we also swear like truckers.

*** This is an inside joke. Here in Canada the Prime Minister (that’s who Stephen Harper is) can be fired by the people of Canada anytime his party loses the confidence of the house. (It’s called a vote of no-confidence. If one is called, and the governing party loses, then they’re not in charge anymore and we have an election.) Stephen Harper is famous for proroguing parliament to avoid this vote taking place – and for a few other things. He’s into it. (Calling for a prorogue is closing Parliament without ending the session. Like a pause.)

****Curling is a wildly popular sport in Canada. A full half of us have watched curling on TV in the last year – Top Curlers can be like rock stars here, we have highways named for them, and we think movies about them are awesome. (We admit the TV series was not very good.) We all know what “hurry hard” means, where you’re going if you’re headed for a bonspiel or a briar, and secretly, we’d like to be a skip.

*****I just put this one in so that Hockey wouldn’t feel bad because I said something about curling. Did you know though, that Hockey isn’t our only national sport? The other one is lacrosse. Together, they are pretty much our only outlets for aggression and violence.

******That’s another inside joke. “Hoser” is a Canadian word for a guy who’s kind of dim or uncultured. There’s lots of Canadian words. Chesterfield, eavestrough, keener, touque, runners, homo milk, icing sugar, mickey, pablum, freezies, housecoat, loonie, toonie, chinook, toboggan… I’m sure a Canadian can translate all those for you in the comments, and add a few more.

me, too. PT Barnum (I think) said “there’s a sucker born every minute”; he was from the US; “sucker” implies a certain dimwittedness; ergo, the quotation suggests some lack of intelligence in the USofA. Yes, I’m a citizen of the US; no, I don’t want to leave it–but I sure don’t think it’s always right.

Good time to remember Canada, the US, and Mexico are all part of North America. We include more people when we add in Central and South America. Many times we citizens of the United States are too country-centric.

As an avid San Jose Sharks fan, I loved the Stanley Cup joke too. Most years, I post on Facebook “Public Service Announcement: Life will be postponed due to playoff hockey until further notice.” My friend’s know that I won’t commit to anything if the Sharks are still in the playoffs.

Between watching and playing hockey as well as my fiber crafts, I have met so many Canadians and am completely jealous of your healthcare system and wish we could have implemented something similar here.

Two guys were sitting around trying to think up a name for their fine new country. One guy said, “We should do like the USA and just use 3 letters in our name. We’ll put all the letters in a hat and pull out one at a time and that will be our name.” The other guy said, “Good idea, eh?”
So thats what they did – they put all of the letters of the alphabet in a hat and pulled out one at a time. The first guy pulled out the letter “c”. He said, “There you go – a C, eh?” The second guy reached in the hat and pulled out the letter “n”. He said, “Oh, I got it – an N, eh?” The first guy reaches in for the last letter and pulled out a “d” and said, “We did it, its a D, eh?”.
And thats how Canada was named – C-eh-N-eh-D-eh.

I love in Detroit and spent a lot of time in Windsor and the surrounding area. I didn’t hear it much around here, but the year I took a boat trip to Montreal I heard it more and more as went travelled north in Ontario.

Reminds of the golf joke about the guy who would never miss a game. One day he was out playing with his buddies. A funeral procession passed by the course. He tipped his hat and stood still for a moment. One of his friends said “Never saw you do that before, do you always do that.” Response: No. That was the wife going by.”

Happy Canada Day! My dad had a rotating tv antenna so that we could watch Hockey Night in Canada from the Toronto stations at our home in Niagara Falls (New York). Still sing along with both anthems at hockey games. Family picnics also had great quantities of Canadian beer, all brands in the same short, squatty brown returnable bottles.

Oh, those beer bottles with the short necks? Many many years ago the CBC had a show called “Eclectic Circus” . My favorite radio show! One night sometime in the 80s the show had a running gag in which the attorney general had decided that instead of elections there would be a lottery. The person with the winning number would be prime minister. Throughout the show, man-on-the-street interviews were held and each person was asked what he would like to do as prime minister. The answer was always year-round hockey season and a return to “those beer bottles with the short necks. I really liked those”.

In the USA, insurance cos. routinely choose not to pay or pay so littlee we can’t afford the diff. Or people can’t afford the insurance (yes even now) at all. Don’t have statistics at hand as to how many die but the stress alone and fear can kill you. And why the heck IS medicine so much more expensive here? (From TX love it,wouldn’t leave it for disclosure) Go Canada Day! {Also work in oncology health care}

I grew up in Rochester and Toronto was our “big city.” I have so many happy memories of it! I’d move in a heartbeat but I am so loving living in the little slice of climate heaven we call San Diego. Though I still knit for my friends and relatives back east and I have come to love the wonder of Linen!

I’m in San Diego (born here) and I think that whatever tourist brought this humid weather along needs to go home and take it back with. We’re used to heat, but dry heat. Too humid to do anything, I’ll have to stay home and knit.
Julie in San Diego

happy Canada day. personally I wish we had a health care system like yours. then I wouldn’t have to worry so much about my son not being able to afford insurance. I love the USA but hate our health care system.

I’m with you! I’ve been all for health care similar to Canada’s for years. I’m also from Rochester and love the good old USA but having been exposed to Canada all my life certainly appreciate how wonderful it is. Happy Canada Day!

Oh good! I’m not the only one. Born and raised in Indiana, but have always had a major country crush on Canada. Someday I’ll follow through with my threats to move there, and I’ll be able to watch curling more often than every 4 years in the Olympics.

Happy Canada Day!
When I saw you were doing jokes I was really hoping you’d do the one about the American beer and the canoe that you told at Strung Along in June . . . I wrote it down and when I read it to my husband he laughed long and hard!
Given that I’ve read some of the negative comments over the years I understand why you might’ve chosen to omit it though. 🙂
Enjoy. Have a beer or 3. Hope the blankie is nearly done!

Happy Canada Day from Kingston, where to celebrate I visited Purlin’ J’s Roving Yarn Truck at Arts Fest in City Park (a block from my front door). Did I buy some yarn? Of course. Single skeins for small projects don’t count on a yarn diet, right? You’ve probably visited “What’s Different in Canada”, the blog, but your readers might enjoy it for a laugh!

Loved the curling story, will definitely pass it on to friends who will enjoy it, too. I grew up 70 miles from Thunder Bay, back when it was Ft. William and Port Arthur, and radio reception was better from CKPR than Duluth stations. In the late ’60’s we went across so often that the authorities knew us by name and recognized our station wagon. So, I’ll just comment that most of us (at least the ones over 35) who live here in border country: Northern Minnesota, are very familiar with most of the words in your list, and have been known to use them often. I suspect that they have crept across our mutual border, probably some from each side. Several of the others I’ve learned from either my sister-in-law or best friend, both of whom are transplants who have taken roots here. Oh, for the record, neither of them say “eh”. And we in MN don’t all say uff-da! Please note that giggles are accompanying this comment.
P.S. Your baby blankets are so beautiful, Almost holding my breath to see if it gets finished in time.

Happy Canada Day from another northern Minnesotan! I, too, use many of those words. Summer vacations were always spent going North to your beautiful country. My husband and I just did the Circle Tour of Lake Superior for our 30th. My mom still watches Canadian tv-mostly for the hockey.

Happy Canada Day! My firstborn was born 23 years ago today, so to me it’s a great day 🙂
Being Norwegian, I have also watched quite a lot of curling over the years…the Norwegian team has done pretty well in the Olympics and world championships, but no one in Norway plays it-LOL!

It’s the exact same in Sweden. LOL
We do quite well in the Olympics and yet I’ve never met anyone who curls (plays curling?) and I’m all for winter sports myself (former bandy player (another sport where we do well in the World Championships but few people plays it) so I figure statistically I should have met at least one.
Anyways, great sport to watch and great post to read!

Just wanted to chime in – always love your Canada Day posts, and I do not always understand my fellow Americans and their misplaced patriotisms. (OF COURSE she loves her country best you dimwits. OF COURSE she’s proud. The fact that she has reasons to be just makes it nicer.) Thanks, Harlot!

I love this post…but as a resident of the Pacific Northwest, I don’t think Canadians get to claim “Chinook” as all their own 🙂 (yes, I know it refers to winds, specifically downslope winds where the Rockies meet the plains..but the word is from the Lower Columbia….)

My daughter & her husband are both lawyers (in the US). Their late and much beloved Golden Retriever was named Chinook. They both thought it was appropriate that a dog owned by two lawyers should be named after a hot air current.

Being a total fan of all things Canadian–including our local morning news reporter, Pat Kiernan–I’m proud to say that I got all the jokes without explanation, except the prorogies. Not bad for a black girl from the Bronx, eh?

Happy Canada Day! I thoroughly enjoy your Canada posts whenever they are as I think it’s interesting and fascinating to learn about how things work in different places. What I would VERY much love though is if you could provide a link to where you get your statistics about the healthcare system that you quoted in #3. In the past I have commented to my family about how I think we (the U.S.) should switch to the Canadian version of healthcare and have been told what an idiot I am and how I don’t have any idea what I’m talking about, etc. I feel that having some statistics of how Canadians actually feel about the system would give my opinion some validation.

Happy Canada Day Steph! Your curling joke was hilarious (although I have to admit I totally didn’t get it until I read your explanation), and thank you so much for posting the link to the 2008 post re: the Canadian parliamentary system. Absolutely fascinating!

Was on Ravelry this morning and they spoke about Canada Day. My first thought was HAPPY CANADA DAY to all Canadians, especially Steph McPhee. AS
you have written your annual Canada Day post I now
may send you a good greeting. Have a super day.

OMG tears are rolling down my face. Those jokes are all great, but the one that really made me lose it was the Stephen Harper one…… that is the best joke ever! I’m sitting in Atlanta, wearing my Canada tshirt, missing home like crazy as I do every Canada Day (and every day really). Love your blog, but especially today, and I think I may treat myself to a reread of every last one of your July 1st posts…..

Honestly, every year your posts make Canada more appealing to me. Crazy US people that get upset about your pride in your country are just that, CRAZY. I really don’t understand why so many staties feel the need to force the world to blow our holes. And universal healthcare would be soooo coool!!!! Come on BERNIE SANDERS!!!! #feelthebern

It’s a baby cereal.
Which was invented by Canadian doctors – who then made sure the royalties went to the Hospital for Sick Children (in Toronto, Ontario) rather than getting rich themselves.
Tastes gross. But babies love it.

They are, but only in Saskatchewan. I grew up there but still call hoodies bunnyhugs despite having lived in a different province for 18 years! The rest of Canada mocks us (gently) for it. The University of Saskatchewan sells hoodies with a dictionary definition of Bunnyhug printed on them. I wear mine proudly!

Yup–grew up in Saskatchewan…can confirm both the widespread unquestioning use of the term Bunnyhug for a hooded sweatshirt with no zip up the front, AND the mocking one gets for continuing to use the term once outside Saskatachewan… =) I could TOTALLY use one of those UofS ones!! (Plus some more excellent Rider gear, just to annoy my Bomber in-laws, but that’s another story…)

Grew up with kangaroo jackets (I’m in Alberta), and now call them hoodies- and have to stop and think what a bunny-hug is when my relatives in SK talk about them! They also call chocolate milk Vi-Co in SK – I think it was/is a name brand of milk, but has come to mean chocolate milk.

You should totally get one – My Mom still lives in Sk and bought me my UofS Bunnyhug for my birthday one year. I treasure it! And I call it my “Bunnyhug Bunnyhug” to differentiate it from my other bunnyhugs that DON’T have the word bunnyhug printed across the front. 🙂

Happy Canada Day!
I remember Pablum (insert shudder).
My mom played curling when she lived in Ottawa. If it were not for Canada’s Health Care System, I would not be alive to write this comment, so no complaints here!
Enjoy the day!

Happy Canada Day! I’m in the US but have Canadian blood. My grandparents were Canadian and my niece and nephew live in BC. It’s a great country and it is wonderful that you all are so accepting of all people. I wish we had your health care system here.

I was just saying to my husband that I wonder when you will put up your Canada Day post. I’m filling my Facebook feed with Canada jokes. I recognize some of yours in your post. My favourite is what did the Albertan say after seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time? How many barrels of oil does that thing produce.

Happy Canada Day. This Canadian girl will be barbecuing later and having a few bottles of beer to celebrate. We can see three cities’ fireworks from our balcony and I can’t wait.

And on behalf of my fellow Americans, I apologize for those so egocentric that they’d actually be offended that you like your own country, and talk about it, and don’t give someone else’s country equal airtime. I was surprised when you said that… but only for a moment. :/

I gotta tell you, I’m American (from New Jersey)…and I love me some curling. I got hooked on it during the 2010 Winter Olympics and it’s kind of the best thing ever. I may also have tried to investigate where a 31-year-old school psychologist could learn curling on a somewhat casual basis. Still working on that one.

Thank you for the Canada Day post and Happy Canada Day! Our son will be moving to Montreal in September to attend University and we are so excited for him. We are all learning to love your country. I am hoping to find a nice yarn shop or two!

Happy Canada Day! The joke about Curling was hysterical. I’m a big fan of the Olympics (both summer and winter). Much to the dismay of my family I am perched in front of the TV for the entire 17 (of however many they are) days. When Curling comes on I am enthralled. Also, alone in front of the TV as my family members fail to see the point. Quite a charming sport.
Enjoy!

Thank you for another heart-warming Canada Day post; I was looking forward to it. Since I am Canadian, I always find myself in them. They make me sit up a little straighter and smile just a little broader. I think we Canadians are catching on to how to show our national pride just a little.

Well I am American and I look FORWARD to your annual Canada post. In fact when I saw on FB that it was Canada Day I thought, “Oh good, I can’t wait to see what the Yarn Harlot writes this year!” Thanks for the jokes, I sent them to my daughter whose boss for the summer is from Newfoundland. Have a great holiday!

Many Newfoundlanders (myself included) consider “Newfie” to be a derogatory term. The disgustingly insulting jokes you refer to are even worse. You may want to look into the history and connotations of the word “Newfie” before making such a suggestion in the future.

Happy Canada Day! I was wondering whether you’d do another one of these posts. Every time I think, I should really visit Canada, it sounds like an awesome place mostly full of nice people. I am also sort-of fascinated by the idea of poutine. I was really excited to come across it advertised at a food stall recently (I’m in the UK), and then really disappointed to find out that it was melted raclette cheese rather than squeaky cheese. (It was tasty, though. And fulfilled the criteria of being terribly unhealthy.)

As a US citizen who is the daughter of a proud Canadian mother, I was fortunate enough to receive the best of and spend ample time in both countries. As much as I love my country I long have felt that culturally I would have been better suited to be a Canadian. My sister and and I still swear we sleep best breathing in Canadian air. We fabulous memories of sunlit summers with our cousins. We would return with scads of Red Rose tea, butter tarts (our grandmother’s were the best,) Timbits, Diana sauce, Bick’s hamburger relish and the ever-exotic flavored chips that we could not get in Ohio at the time. The majority of people we encounter here have grave misconceptions of life above the 49th. About 20 years ago, my sister and I headed north on short notice, in s snowstorm, to attend our uncle’s funeral. My sister told her girlfriend she was not going to pack much, if she needed anything she would go to the mall. Her friend turned to her in disbelief and asked, “They have MALLS there?” We, of course, couldn’t wait to share that with our cousins. Later that night the friend called my uncle’s house, identified herself and asked for my sister. Not missing a beat, my quick-witted cousin said, “Sure, let me shinny down the phone pole and get her.” [i knew all the terms but one; I’m off to look up “keener.”

I also love to read these Canada Day posts. I was shocked to learn that people got upset over you showing pride in your own nation and National holiday. Incredible!!!! Until I read your blog I didn’t know that our two nations celebrated their Independence Days so close together. I have been to Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland (although only the airport in the last one!). My favorite city was Ottawa. Love Canada. Happy Canada Day!!!

I just sang “O, Canada” in your honor (and to test whether I still remember the words from when we had a good minor-league hockey team with a Canadian kid named Gretzky playing and going to high school here.
I’m sorry that there are so many rude Americans these days. It makes me sad. I’m 71, and in the late ’80s or early ’90s I’d thought that my country was going to grow up and at least be more polite, like our neighbors to the north. Sadly, too many politicians and those who rent them or own them outright find it profitable to turn us against each other so we won’t notice what the oligarchs are doing to the rest of us.

It is that too, but it is (was?) made in Canada. Pablum is also used to mean anything that tastes like baby cereal, or metaphorically as something bland and easy to digest intellectually. I stopped using Pablum because it was always so lumpy, and my brother, who worked for the company, said they spent $10,000 trying to prevent the lumpiness, but they couldn’t.

I was nearly Canadian, but my grandparents had a relative here, which tipped the balance in deciding where to emigrate.
Hi from the Freest Country in the World – New Zealand. (We also have icing sugar.)

I grew up in Spokane, Washington with a hockey-loving family and spent many weekends at games in Nelson, BC, only 150 miles North. Learned to love white vinegar with my fries, Mackintosh’s toffee and the Great White North. Proud to say I could define most of the Canadian words. Loved the bacon joke, but the Stanley Cup joke had me laughing out loud at my desk.

Don’t forget “Davenport”. My Canadian-raised grandmother always used that one to describe the couch/sofa. Happy Canada Day to you from an almost part-Canadian! (My grandmother was born in the states, but raised in Canada for most of her childhood.)

I also as a Scot laughed out loud at the curling joke. Love your Canada Day posts, it is always great to come across someone who is proud of their country and unashamedly happy to say it. Being Scottish makes me proud, but your Canada Day posts make me look forward to having the opportunity to visit Canada. x

Happy Canada Day! Thanks for sharing William Shatner and Paul Gross with us (seriously, Men With Brooms is just a wonderful movie). I had the pleasure of spending Canada Day in London several Years back – spent my day surrounded by Mounties, eating Tim Horton’s and watching curling on Trafalger Square. It was marvelous!

Happy Canada Day! I’m privileged to come up to your beautiful country at least 3 times a year for work. My husband and I adore Nova Scotia and have vacationed there several times in the last 10 years. I never understood why there weren’t more advertisements to vacation in Canada. August in Canada versus August in Texas is a no brainer.

Happy Canada day! My grandmother was Canadian and my aunt was born there. They moved to the states when my aunt was little. I wish we had a health system like Canada’s. Have a fantastic day. Keep on knitting!

I am a citizen of the U.S , but have enjoyed all your Canada Day posts. Very nice to see your national pride. Loved the jokes this year. And I know most of your Canadian words, perhaps because I read English novels, or because I had great great great grandparents that emigrated to the U.S. or because I lived most of my life in nearby Minnesota? Who knows.

Happy Canada Day! I would like to thank Canada for producing my husband and my in-laws, kind and generous people all, although my MIL did occasionally have her moments. But, still, it’s been fun learning to speak Canadian and know that a “snap” on a jacket is actually a “dome,” or that “clothes pins” are “clothespegs” and a multitude of others that I have learned over the years. Also fun to have my husband’s grandmother show me off to her friends as her “American granddaughter.” 🙂

Happy Canada Day! I think it’s great you are such a proud Canandian! I think Canada and Canadians are great. I think the US (my home) could learn a lot from Canada and I wish we’d adopt national health insurance like you have. Well, ObamaCare gets us a little closer . . .
Enjoy your day and revel in your country!

I have loved every one of your Canada Day posts, but this one may need to live for awhile at the top of my list. And while I always admire your pride for your country and your stance on issues that are important, I have to admit that the “please get out of the pool” joke made me laugh so hard there may have been a small accident. Thank you, Steph, this was just perfection all the way around.

But not all of those words and terms are purely Canadian. The term “icing sugar” is also used in the UK — I’ve seen the product on store shelves there. “Housecoat” was once frequently used in the US, although perhaps with a different meaning than in Canada. Here, a housecoat was a lightweight, shapeless, and often sleeveless dress. Divine’s character wears one in the original version of “Hairspray”. As the garment has declined in popularity, so has the word..

3) Curling is still not a sport. It’s what you come up with when it’s February and you’ve very near the Arctic Circle, and you haven’t seen the sun in months, and you found a rock and a broom in the toolshed, and you NEED TO COME UP WITH SOME ACTIVITY OF SOME KIND TO KEEP FROM GOING COMPLETELY INSANE, and bam. Curling was born.

It’s a good thing they didn’t find a dead moose and a few kilos of gunpowder in the toolshed, or else curling would be a significantly gorier event.

I’m terribly sorry. I think I was a turd there. I make much worse fun of American football, though.

Oh, dear! Janis, you made me laugh out loud because as a transplanted Brit who became a Canadian Citizen, and who lives on the prairies where it is colder than the surface of Mars on occasion, you were not being a turd. I laughed out loud at the moose-and-gunpowder, scaring other patrons of our small-town library. I suffer badly from cabin fever in the winter months but up to now have successfully avoided an addiction to curling or hockey. Thank God for knitting!

Happy Canada Day to you, Stephanie. Don’t think I’ve ever wished anyone those greetings before! I always love your posts, but these are some of my favorites.

Wonder if you all take a national holiday in the middle of the week? Or as is a strange US custom, to move the day off work to a weekday near a weekend. The Fourth of July is a Saturday this year, so everone is taking Friday off. Huh?

Canada Day and Christmas are the two holidays that are not moved to abut the weekend. But if Canada Day were to occur on a weekend, then either the Friday or, more likely, the Monday would be a holiday from work. Same with Christmas and Boxing Day (Dec. 26). If either of those occur on a weekend, we get an extra day off. If they occur on Saturday and Sunday, we get 2 extra days off. And before you envy us our Boxing Day, we don’t have a Black Friday off after Thanksgiving, as seems to be becoming more common in the US.

As a half-Canadian, half-Engish New Zealander (please note: nothing to do with Australia – there’s quite a bit of ocean in between) I loved the jokes. They made me come over all nostalgic. Wish I could make another trip to Canada.

Love the Canada jokes. There were a couple there I hadn’t heard before (and I’m in Ontario).

Reminds me of a contest the Globe and Mail ran years ago (I was in high school – I refuse to calculate how many years ago that was!) to come up with a Canadian equivalent to the expression “as American as apple pie.”
The winner: “As Canadian as possible, under the circumstances.”

I love Canada and was happy to take my daughter for a trip to Québec last spring. We invented a catchphrase: “tout est mieux au Canada!” Just now, I told her today is Canada Day and she immediately said “Tout est mieux”

Happy happy Canada Day!!!….my parents moved from England to Montreal when I was 6 and my brother 4, followed by another move to the USA. I love my adopted country lots, but wish we had spent more time in Canada – can’t wait to visit again. Sent from HOT Idaho where knitting is getting hard to do even with a/c……

Even though certain people are emotionally unstable, you still do your best to make them feel at home. By writing that disclaimer section you reached out the hand of friendship to some of these folks, even though they are probably incapable of understanding. That is and will always be the thing I most admire about you as a person. Never stop the love and support for the most aggressive and unstable members of the human community.

I, too, look forward to these posts every year! I’m American and read these posts with a hope that this is what America could be. It’s an interesting time in the U.S. right now. Lots of progress and lots of backlash.

My dh and I are traveling through Canada right now and have been continually struck by the beauty and the kindness of the people, and the international nature of everywhere we’ve been. We have been going down the fantasy rabbit hole of what it would take to actually move here, and one objection we come up against is the reliance/presence of the oil industry. We both associate it with a pretty destructive force, in all the ways you can interpret that. Can someone help me out – is this a fair claim?
Regardless, Happy Canada Day from a 15th floor Airbnb condo rental in Edmonton!

The oil industry…as you were travelling…using a car? Or a bus? Or a plane? That relies on the petro-chemical industry for fuel?
Unfortunately we are all consumers of oil, so it has to come from somewhere.

Yes, the oil industry is prevalent, but it depends on where you’re living/working. I’ve been in southern AB now for 13 years, and have never had a job in oil & gas. My husband also doesn’t work in o&g. But, a lot of people do, and the economy is largely tied to it. However, I grew up in BC, and the presence of o&g as an industry was basically non-existent.

And a Happy Canada Day to you, albeit a bit late. I think it is only appropriate that you are proud of and love the beautiful, wonderful country where you live. Americans are very fortunate indeed to have such marvelous peace-loving neighbors to our north. (You never hear our immigration lunatic fringe call for building a fence on the U.S. / Canadian border. Could it be that you have it so good there you’d need to be mad to sneak south?) And if anyone wonders, I will enthusiastically celebrate the 4th of July because I am proud of and love my country as well.

I think this is my favorite Canada Day post so far, and not just because I got all the jokes. (Shoutout to my Canadian besties who taught me everything I know.) I hope you and your family had an awesome Canada Day, Steph!

Neglected to mention that we are all “knit together” and bound by fiber ties. How marvelous! Besides, I’m busily knitting away at a cardigan from a super talented designer from Calgary, Heidi Kirrmaier.

Today I would like to leave this appreciation of Canadians. It is wonderful that you can (almost to a person) be so proud of being Canadian, but without doing it in a jingoistic or offensive way. You’re a good bunch. I’m a very English English person (I certainly consider myself English over British) but have a huge amount of respect for Canada. You seem to be getting a lot right (more than us, certainly at the moment).

I agree with the comment above – I am English, not British – and proud of it. But – if I had to live anywhere else, then Canada here I come! I loved Canada when I visited, many years ago. Happy Canada Day, Stephanie.

Canada is a wonderful country and all the things you say about it are true. I lived there for a year almost 20 years ago and haven’t fully recovered from leaving! I have the equivalent of homesickness for a country that isn’t my home. The words loonie and toonie are my favourites (although I kind of wish they’d gone with doubloons like some people wanted!)

this post is all about LOVE – for one’s own country, whatever it might be. I’m so dissapointed that we couldn’t have one freakin’ year without a negative comment. So sorry, Steph…..we almost made it. wait – isn’t that a song…..:-)

I think perhaps you have mistaken a very Canadian past-time of laughing at ourselves to be negativity. Many Canadians (not all of course given our ethnic diversity) have a very dry humour and part of our humour is poking fun at ourselves – without real harm meant. It perhaps would translate better if you were actually with the Canadians telling the jokes, just reading it doesn’t allow you to see the body language – nor do you hear the raucous laughter after the punchline.

Stephanie’s Canada Day posts are always about the love she has for her country.

You’re welcome. I’m guessing this commenter never read about the bacopa-cabana, which I found so funny that Marsha and I bought you one a few years back. (I still “our” version of Barry Manilow’s song.)

We really celebrate our diversity with laughter and that’s one of the best medicines ever!
Chris S

Thanks again for your Canada Day post. I’ve enjoyed it for years now. I’m always impressed by your love for your country without putting anyone else’s down and saddened that anyone that would read your blog to begin with needs to be so negative in the comments. I’ve learned alot of interesting things from you over the years, some about knitting, some about Canada. Thank you!

I love your Canadian Day posts—they are always great! I love that you love Canada! As an American who travels through your country often and lives 50 mls south of the border, I think Canada totally rocks! Often overseas I meet people who think we are Canadians–yahoo! They think we are polite, I say to myself. I also love the USA too, but think we should be more like our neighbors to the north. Happy Canadian Day All!

Belated Happy Canada Day! Love you sharing the bits and pieces of Canadian culture. My husband and I even tried poutine when we were in Niagara Falls last November (you need to do long bike tours like yours to eat it on a regular basis…but it was great!).

Happy Canada Day! As someone who feels deep love for two countries – the one I was born in and the US where I live now – I completely agree: Praising one country isn’t a slap on all others. Nor does patriotism ask us to deny our country’s shortcomings. It asks us to keep working to make our country into its best self.

Also I see patriots of (most) other countries this way: here’s a person who shows gratitude for all that is good in life, and what her/his country has done for her/him. Grateful people are awesome to be around.

Happy Canada Day (yesterday…oops)! Having grown up in NY, only about 15 minutes from the Canadian border, I’m often thought to be Canadian (living in Virginia now…there’s no distinguishing upstate NY from Canada apparently) Except for the perogies. I laughed right out loud at all these jokes! Love our friends to the north! Thanks Stephanie for all your write about!

If I were to escape Wisconsin it would either be to Minnesota or Canada. Better yet, Wisconsin could become another province along with the UP. We’re almost there…..afterall:

How many Canadian words have to be in a vocabulary before you can become part of the country. Hoser, eavestrough, housecoat, tobaggan. I’m sure there are many Yoopers and Wisconsin folks who would feel right at home and happier being Canadian. Anything to escape our state governments. Plus, we’d be very comfortable climate-wise. We;d be able to offer you good things, like a mountain range (the Porkies in the UP, a really cool city (Madison), and a really good Football team (GB Packers) Good beer too Spotted Cow for instance). Oh ya, Wisconsin does name streets after Packer players and coaches, does that count? Some of my favorite camping memories are at Pancake Bay and Kakabeka Falls. Canada would be able to add Door County (and unfortunately WIsconsin Dells). Strategically, it would give Canada a part of the Mississippi River and half of another Great Lake and all of Lake Superior.

You’re lucky to live in a country you’re still allowed to be proud of, without being told that you’re a hater or a micro-agressor. That’s not so much the case in the States anymore, as it is no longer politically correct to say nice things about your country if you’re from the USA.

That’s really sad, when the US is still a great country, although I admit it has taken a beating in recent years in terms of how it is seen on the world stage. There is nothing wrong with patriotism; in fact I have been quoted as saying that it is the cornerstone of a well-ordered life. I’ve been to several great places in the USA and hope to visit many more, as I have many wonderful friends there. Happy 4th of July, when it arrives. This Canadian loves to see exuberant celebration of pride in one’s country.

I’ve always enjoyed your Canada Day posts, and other references that remind me that the cultures of the U.S. and Canada are both similar and different. One of the joys of blogs on the internet is finding that there are people all over the world who have similar interests as I do. I have read with interest about knitters who live in Norway and Russia above the arctic circle, tatters in the UK, France, Malaysia, India, and Poland. Its always a bit of a shock when a quilter complains about the unrelenting heat wave in December, and then I realize that she lives in Australia. Each of these bloggers have given me a peak into their day to day lives that I have enjoyed enjoyed and appreciated. Happy Canada Day, as I make plans for the Fourth that include a hike and picnic with friends, and a toast to my ‘Germans from Russia ‘, Swiss, and Scots ancestors who crossed an ocean to come to the United States.

Hi Stephanie! I love this post! So funny! I especially love it because I’m from the U.S. but my husband is looking for a job in Canada right now. He directs labor unions and we’re having an awfully hard time living in one place since unions have begun being so attacked in this country! He started this line of work 6 yrs ago and we’ve moved to different states four times already! We have two toddlers and I’m self-employed teaching music lessons so every time we move I have to start my business all over again. It’s been tough! We want to move somewhere where we can stay in one place and where unions are stronger. And we’ve always loved Canada! Their healthcare, schools, worker benefits, self-employed pensions and maternity leave??? It’s amazing. He has a very good prospect of a director position right now that he’s perfect for in Burnaby, B.C. So… we’ll see! I would love to become Canadian! 🙂
Happy Canada Day! I hope you enjoyed it!

I’ve spent the last 10 or so years as a hockey fan because I now live in a place that has an NHL team, and finally get what all the fuss is about. In that time, I’ve become convinced that Canadians are probably such lovely people because they get out all of their anger, frustrations, and other negative emotions either on the hockey rink, or by yelling at the rival team.

A day late, but Happy Canada to you. I grew up in the Rochester NY area so am quite familiar with most of the Canadian isms. Love Canada, particularly Toronto, and wish I could get up there for a visit. (Live in Florida now and don’t travel well.)

US Midwesterners knew the word “Chinook” at one time…Laura Ingalls Wilder used it in her book The Long Winter, one of her Little House series:

“Laura said nothing; she was too happy. She could hardly believe that the winter was gone, that spring had come. When Pa asked her why she was so silent, she answered soberly, ‘I said it all in the night.’

‘I should say you did! Waking us all from a sound sleep to tell us the wind was blowing!’ Pa teased her. ‘As if the wind hadn’t blown for months!’

‘I said the Chinook,’ Laura reminded him. ‘That makes all the difference.'”

Happy Canada Day from a proud Australian. We’re not quite up there with the healthcare and the education, but we’re pretty close. Like Canada, we rate very low on the Failed States Index. Not that this is a competition or anything, but we even have our own version of Stephen Harper too, only he’s called Tony Abbott.

Just wish we were caught up to Canada on the equal marriage rights, but hey, we still have something to aspire to.

I post this because my family had a choice to emigrate to either Australia or Canada. They chose Australia for the climate – something I remind them of in the middle of a scorching hot summer. If my family had made a different choice, I could have had access to a slightly better education and healthcare system, and I could follow curling instead of cricket. If you guys only had cricket, I would regret their choice more.

Happy Canada Day! I’ve learned so much about your country by reading this annual post. And I see why the rest of the world regard Canadians as non-aggressive.

Frankly more Americans need to travel outside of this country. And then they would see that other places have specific strengths that we lack. That’s not a putdown. It’s just that the Good Lord spreads the blessings around…..

And we should hang our heads in embarrassment over potentially exporting those 2 New York escaped murderers to your country. But if they had crossed over the border last week, I’m sure that your government would have collaborated in the search!

THANK YOU for this post. Though I’m from the US, I’m a close neighbor in New England and I’ve been using the word “hoser” for about two decades now- something my family could never figure out where I picked up. Quite frequently, someone will tell me I made the word up, or insist that I must mean “poseur” with a heap of snottiness in their voice. I feel vindicated today! Thank you for this glorious gift!

Happy Canada Day a bit late (I’ve been sick this week.) I apologize for any rude comments by my fellow Americans. Anyone who is truly patriotic ought to be able to appreciate the same sentiment in the citizens of other countries. I think Canada is amazing and has every reason to be proud. Just the fact that it can produce a gem like you shows what a great place it is.

Happy Canada Day (I tweeted it to you on the actual day so I feel ok being late here)
Love Canada, honeymooned in Canada, have lived my whole life right next door to Canada (WA, AK, MN). Plan to retire in Canada (is there room for one more).
Best neighbors ever–(not to diss you Mexico but I’ve not lived right next door to you for 56 years so not sure about you quite yet….)
PS Love the jokes–I got them all. Is that good or bad?

I’m not insulted or affronted that you don’t due an Independence Day post. As an American, it has never dawned on me to celebrate Canada Day, why would you celebrate the 4th? Oh, happy belated Canada Day!

I’m also not insulted that you don’t write an July 4th post and you’re proud of being Canadian. I get that but I do find it curious that you feel the need to defend your country so much. Does the lady protest too much and who cares? Besides you do come to the good ol’ USofA for much of your income.

I love the jokes but especially the hockey one! Your love for our country is heartwarming, especially when there is so much negativity in the Canadian press. I would never want to live anywhere else (but I do love to visit the UK). Good luck with the blanket and the best of good luck to your sister-in-law!!

Born and raised in Texas, a family connection with Louisiana and, yes – I got it, the Curling Bacon made me drop my needles from laughing so hard!
A Belated Happy Canada Day
to my favourite Canadian!
Ride On~

I grew up in Detroit and love all things Canadian. Your candidate day posts are great. I’m a crazy person who believes that there can be more than one great country in the world and I am happy to Accord Canada that status. And I was brought up saying eavestroughs. Thanks for all the great jokes, I love every one and I actually get them all. God bless the Mapl Leaf flag, and the land she flies over, and the people who are blessed to enjoy her peace and security.